Express this product in scientific notation: $(2.00\times 10^{-2})\times (5.00\times 10^{-4})$
Start by collecting like terms together. $= (2.00\times 5.00) \times (10^{-2}\times 10^{-4})$ When multiplying exponents with the same base, add the powers together. $= 10.0 \times 10^{-2\,+\,-4}$ $= 10.0 \times 10^{-6}$ To write the answer correctly in scientific notation, the first number needs to be between $1$ and $10$ . In this case, we need to move the decimal one position to the left without changing the value of our answer. $ $ We can use the fact that $10.0$ is the same as $1.000 \times 10$ $ = {1.000 \times 10} \times 10^{-6} $ $= 1.000\times 10^{-5}$